When I was 18, I was working at a video store (back when VHS tapes cost like 80 bucks, so the stores didn’t stock them on the shelves, we kept them behind the counters). This video store also had a “naughty room,” where the “adult materials” were kept. One day, this man came to the counter with his little video tag thingy to get his movie, and I quickly read it and said “Oh my god, you haven’t seen this yet? This is the best movie ever!”

Then I turned to get his video and realized that the tag didn’t say “Beverly Hills Cop” (starring blockbuster entertainer Eddie Murphy), it said “Beaverly Hills Cop” (a movie from the naughty room, which had an entirely different cast of entertainers).

I couldn’t even make eye contact with the guy after that. All I could think of was that he must be thinking: “Coolest chick ever!”

And just for the record, I never did watch the porno version of Beverly Hills Cop.

The Blogger Girlz: What did your friends and family think when you told them you were writing The Body Finder?

They said absolutely nothing, and you know why…because I didn’t tell them. Any of them! I was super-secretive about it, so only my husband and kids knew what I was up to. When I started telling people about my book deal, I got a lot of strange looks and comments like: “I didn’t even know you wrote.”

Shelli wanted to know what was my best and worst memory as a kid?

Strangely enough, both memories were tied to the same event. I was shot at!!! Okay, maybe they weren’t actually aiming for me, but when I was in the fifth grade our house was the target of a drive-by shooting. Bullets were fired in the middle of the night and the dent in our fridge was our perma-reminder of our close call. Pretty scary stuff, but you know what? It actually turned out to be a great story for a 10-year-old girl to tell her friends!

Shannon, Vania (Reverie), and Cara all want to know about “the dream”:

Ahh, the dream…it was…dare I say it, ever so magical. It was just me, N’Sync, and a thousand screaming fans. I don’t know why they chose to pull little ‘ol me on stage with them that night, but when JT put his hand out, I gladly accepted. The rest, shall we say, is history…

Yes, my dreams really are that deep. By the way, I was in my 30s (and the mother of three!) when I had this dream. *hangs head in shame*

Cara also wanted to know if I’ve had any weird encounters at a signing or an event.

Okay, so not weird, but surreal! When I was on the Supernatural Summer Tour, someone in the audience asked if we all knew each other before the tour. Kelley Armstrong took the mic and said, “I met Kimberly a year ago when she was in the audience at the last Supernatural Summer Tour,” and then she looked at me beside her and said, “and now she’s up here!”

WOW! That was kind of incredible to have it put in that perspective.

RA Nelson: What would you write about if you weren't terrified to do so?

I would probably write what most people would: a hard hitting expose on the church’s influence on rabbit breeding throughout history in third world countries. It would be huge and would expose all of the secret religious societies who have been supporting this for centuries.

But since I’m not an expert on rabbit breeding. Or third world countries. Or secret religious societies. Or pretty much…anything, you’ll have to wait for Dateline to break that story.

Stacy (from Girls in the Stacks) wants to know if I’m watching the World Cup and rooting for the USA?

Of course I was rooting for the USA! But I’m not actually watching it. It’s more like I’m covering my ears and trying not to let that god-awful buzzing sound take over my brain. How can anyone possibly consider that “cheering”???

My husband finds it so hilarious that the sound bothers me (since NOTHING ever bothers me like that) that he even downloaded an app on his iPhone to make the sound ALL. THE. TIME. So not cool!

And Sharli made it a speed round:

What was your first boyfriend like? WOW! I had to go WAY BACK for my first boyfriend…all the way to first grade. His name was Scott and he was…well, somewhat reluctant. In hindsight, I don’t think he really wanted to be my boyfriend, but I had other plans. I forced him be my boyfriend. And to hold my hand. And sit by me during every “floor time” we had in class. And like so many boys after him, as soon as I was finished with, I dumped him like a hot potato. Poor Scott!

Good guys or bad boys? In fiction: Both! In real life: Good guys, always. But don’t confuse a nice guy with a whiny wimp. Just because he’s a nice guy doesn’t mean he lets you walk all over him, it just means he brings you chicken soup when you’re sick!

Have your kids read TBF? What did they think about it? My oldest daughter read it before it was even sold (I needed a beta reader in my target age group!). My son (17) is waiting for the audio version…umm, thanks, buddy! And I’ve let my youngest (9) read the first couple of chapters, just so she could see what it was like…but I kept telling her: “you know mommy made this up, right? It’s not real.” (Of course one of her friends in class actually read it cover-to-cover which I thought was hilarious!)

Monday, June 28, 2010

I'm thrilled to welcome Saundra Mitchell to help me launch the first of many guest blogs I'll be hosting over the next month! Saundra's book, Shadowed Summer, was easily one of my 2009 faves and (great news for you!) it was just released in paperback. If you haven't read it already, you totally should!!!

So here she is...Saundra Mitchell:

VOICE, TRUTH, ECHOES

I was lucky enough to read THE BODY FINDER last year, and it's been really hard keeping my mouth shut about it until it came out! Violet's ability to sense the dead was absolutely unique, and Jay is about the best boyfriend in the universe. The story came together in an incredible, unexpected way.

But you know what I loved best?

The text from the killer's point of view. I know, I know, I'm kind of a sick cookie. But here's the thing- I thought it was extraordinary because it was so clear. Kimberly managed to tap into the rational(note: not reasonable!) part of the killer's character that made homicide seem as ordinary and appreciable as a teen would find getting a summer job.

It's not that she apologized, but she made it real. And finding the truth in all characters is what makes a story greater than simply words on the page. I like meeting characters who act like real people, who think honest thoughts, who behave in genuine and earnest ways. And that goes for every character- the heroes and the villains.

Because when I can believe in a villain, I can fear them. My pulse races, I worry about the heroes, I read through my fingers, and flinch when disaster strikes. I exhale my relief when all is well, and I really feel it when they fall in love. No matter how fantastic the world, how unique the magic that's written into it- I have to believe in the characters before I can believe in their gifts.

And Kimberly made me believe, over and over. And for me- for her amazingbook- it started with a killer's whisper.

Okay, since this is our first guest post, don't forget to leave a comment if you want to be entered in the giveaway for an ARC of Firelight by Sophie Jordan, a signed copy of The Body Finder, and a bunch of awesome swag, including a sweet TEAM JAY t-shirt! The first round of guest posts wraps up on July 16th!

And if you want to order Shadowed Summer (trust me, you won't be disappointed!), you can find it here, here, here, and here.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Starting tomorrow and going into July, I'll be hosting some uber-fab guest bloggers, and here’s the deal:

Not only do you get to read these awesome guest posts but I'll also be offering up some killer prizes. And by killer I mean some great hard-to-find ARCs, signed books, great swag, gift cards…we’ll have it all! All you need to remember is that when we have guest bloggers, you need to show them some love and comment! That’s it...and you’ll be entered to win!!!

The first round of guest posts will run through July 16th, and the first prize pack will include...

An ARC of FIRELIGHT by Sophie JordanA signed copy of THE BODY FINDERA great swag prize pack, including a (really hard-to-find) TEAM JAY T-shirt!!!

So be here tomorrow morning to start earning points, because you do not want to miss being entered in this first giveaway!!!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

I’m going to start my story by saying: Squeak is safe! I repeat, Squeak is safe! Also, no hamsters were harmed in the telling of this story…

So, after we learned that our daughter’s beloved hamster, Squeak, was missing from his cage, we spent two hours of our Friday night TEARING. OUR. HOUSE. APART! And to be perfectly honest, we weren’t just looking for a frightened hamster-in-hiding, we were searching for…how do I put this gently…hamster remnants??? Okay, so that may not have been “gently” but come on, we have three cats!

Of course while we were searching every corner of the house with a hysterical 9 year-old girl, we had to constantly remind her that this was a “rescue mission, NOT a recovery mission” (even though we had serious doubts).

Things I learned:

Don’t underestimate the bond between a nine-year-old girl and her hamster.

We have eight flashlights in the house, but only one that actually works.

My kids are slobs! I found a dirty bowl in a toy box, an empty Coke can in a drawer, miscellaneous missing socks virtually everywhere, candy wrappers in the couches, and more dust bunnies than I care to recall. Ever! (Okay, that last part may be my fault, but I’ll let them take the fall anyway.)

Our cats are lazy because that tiny little hamster made it down a flight of stairs, down a hallway, and into the laundry room right next to their food dishes.

ALL of us were searching, but dad gets to be the hero since HE was the one who ultimately found the cowering hamster. (Even though he wouldn’t actually touch the thing.)

Mom is the one left to clean up the search party’s mess.

But in the end, the crisis was averted, the cage was checked and re-checked before bedtime, and Squeak was safe and sound.

The aftermath…

Last night, when my husband put our daughter to bed, she wanted to sing him a song. It went a little something like this: “I love Squeak and Daddy so much…blah blah blah.” Whatever!

And then of course my husband continues to milk this for all it’s worth when he says: “You know, people throw around the word hero a lot these days and most of the time it’s not appropriate…but this time, it really is.”

Friday, June 25, 2010

In my interview with Girls in the Stacks, Shannan asked me “Truth or Dare?” and after a terrifying split-second flashback to my younger days, I decided to play it safe and answer “Truth,” because the thing is, I’m that person who will tell you everything—probably too much of everything!

Wait, now I’m wondering what the dare might have been! A push-up? To kiss her? Turn my eyelids inside out? I guess we’ll never know!

Since I’m terrible at keeping secrets in my real life, and we all know just how many there are in the publishing world, I thought I would give everyone free reign here. So go ahead, ask me anything you want! I DARE YOU!!!

Wanna know how I met my husband?

How old I was when I had my first kiss?

How about my weirdest dream (which may or may not include a boy band)?

What was the name of my first grade teacher? Well, maybe not that one…but only because I can’t remember.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

C'mon, don't let Lindsey Leavitt think I'm that kid who eats paste in the back of the classroom...you know who I'm talking about, the kidthat no one wants to sit by! Check out my guest post on her blog (and leave a comment) so she'll let me sit at the cool table (and by "cool table" I mean hang out at her blog, of course!).

Oh, and don't forget...I'm signing tomorrow at the South Seattle Public Library with WHISPER author Phoebe Kitanidis:

Saturday, June 19, 2010

...with my new BFF Shannan from the Girls in the Stacks. In it I say clever things like "really good, great ghost stories." And I reveal a little about what will happen to Violet in DESIRES OF THE DEAD.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

In preparation for the High School Flashback blog tour, I had to dig out some old (and I mean O-L-D!) high school photos, and in the process I found some other stuff too. Like notes.

NOTE: For those of you younger than 25, back in the day we didn’t have cell phones for texting or MySpace to IMing, so we had to handwrite notes and pass them during—and between—classes.I know, right???

And I had a big box full of these windows to the past, notes I’d collected from my friends. Some were back-and-forth notes, with messages written all over the page. It was both fun AND embarrassing to look through them. But I discovered some things about myself as I was reading:

1) I have a short memory. Seriously, I can barely remember most of the things I read about, things which clearly were important enough at the time for me to put them in writing. And then SAVE!

2) I was a little wild. I won’t elaborate too much, let’s just say this may have something to do with why my kids have a hard time getting away with anything. Umm, been there, done that, guys!

3) Did I already mention that I have a short memory?

4) I was a terrible girlfriend. And this is the one I want to talk about. Because not only was I a terrible girlfriend, I almost can’t imagine that there was another girl at my high school who was half as boy-crazy as I was.

Seriously, as I was reading through these notes, it was painfully clear that I. LOVED. EVERYONE. Because here’s the deal: If you’re from the note-writing-era, you probably already know that it was proper note etiquette to end your letters with “so-and-so loves so-and-so” (including the current loves of both the note-writer and the note-receiver). It’s classic Note Writing 101.

And my notes ended with:

Kim loves John…Dave…Brad…Scott…Erik…Tim…

The list goes on and on. For days.

Some of the names I remember…vaguely. But most I really don’t. Who were all these boys? Why did I love them? And how come none of them lasted?

I can answer that last one. I was a serial dater. Not to be confused with easy, mind you, but I was fickle, indecisive. It didn’t take much to catch my attention, but it took even less to lose it. If a guy laughed too loud during lunch, I couldn’t break up fast enough. If he wore the wrong shoes, he was cut from the team. Same jeans two days in a row, I was movin’ on.

I really was THAT shallow. I envied my friends who had long-term boyfriends…you know, the ones that lasted more than a month. And couples that dated an entire school year? That was, like, FOREVER!

In my defense, most of these guys weren’t actual boyfriends, just boys that I “loved” from afar. Too bad I couldn’t see past an untimely zit or some food caught in their braces, because maybe I would’ve been a better girlfriend.

Monday, June 14, 2010

1) My daughter’s boyfriend graduated from the University of Washington on Friday. We were late getting there due to traffic, the ceremony was long, and it was stuffy in the venue. But I cried when this amazing young woman spoke about putting herself through college as the single mother of two, and I was inspired by how hard all of those kids worked to get to that day. Congratulations, Mat, we’re SO proud of you!

2) I finished FIRELIGHT by Sophie Jordan, and WOW. Just WOW! I was wondering how she was going to pull of the whole dragon ancestry thing (especially of the fire-breathing variety) but she totally did it. I LOVED IT!

But what’s even better than ME finishing FIRELIGHT??? I’m going to share the FIRELIGHT love. In July, I’m going to run a contest for an ARC of this awesome September release, so stay tuned!!!

3) THE BODY FINDER is coming to Brazil! I found out on Friday that Editora Intrínseca Ltda will be publishing the Portuguese language versions of TBF and Desires of the Dead in Brazil. So welcome to the TBF family, Editora Intrínseca!!!

4) And you wanna see something REALLY cool? My German publisher, Coppenrath, set up this AWESOME website for The Body Finder. I have no idea what it says (Sprechen Sie Deutsch?), but I LOVE the colors, the German cover, and the new title (Bodyfinder: Echoes of the Dead). Germany, FTW!!!

5) Last, and certainly not least, we had sun in the Northwest. Huzzah! You think I kid, but I totally don’t. It’s been a soggy, raining, gloomy mess out here and we’ve been in desperate need of some Vitamin D. This weekend temps broke 80, my daughter got a farmer’s tan, and I may have staved off Rickets for yet another year.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

1) Getting up at 3AM sucks, even if it's to do something really cool. Like the Supernatural Summer Tour. I may have cursed Harper on my way to the airport.

But this was my view at BORDERS in Dallas. Curse was lifted. Harper rocks!

I have a new BFF. It's official! She proposed, I accepted, Skittles were exchanged. That's Shannan (from Girls in the Stacks) sitting eagerly on the floor in front. (And, yes, she is just as adorable in person!!!)

2) FAN ART IS THE BEST! This girl drew Ellen Schreiber's MC Raven and brought it to the event. It. Was. Stunning!

Aprilynne Pike and I had way too much fun!!!

3) DALLAS ROCKS!!!!!!!!

I was the dork on tour taking pictures of everything.

(Including my Houston hotel room.)

We lost Aprilynne after Dallas, but look who we picked up in Houston...KELLEY ARMSTRONG (far right)!!!

Emilee from Penultimate Page (Do you not LOVE her hair??? I wanted to pet her. Would that have been weird?)

Cari, Cari, Cari. I warned you about the FlipCam:

A different kind of FAN ART, check out this incredible homage. Each nail is painted to express different scenes from our books! Dude!!!

And the lovely artist, Brittany.

What I learned#4) I paint my nails like a three-year-old. On crack. Brittany's got crazy mad-skills!

I was seriously worried that no one would be in my line, but LOOK!!!!!!

I wish I could have gotten pictures of EVERYONE!!!

5) HOUSTON ROCKS!!!!!!!!

6) Getting up at 3AM sucks...even when you disguise it as 5AM in a different time zone.

8) The folks at Mysterious Galaxy informed me that my book had gone into its second printing! YAY Mysterious Galaxy! YAY for second printings!!! YAY Harper!!!!!

My agent-in-law Shannon Messenger came out to say hi. (Hi Shannon!!!)

9) SAN DIEGO ROCKS!!!!!!!!

10) Someone should give the rookie-on-tour packing instructions. It was clear I was the newbie when I showed up downstairs with a ginormous checked back, a laptop carry-on, and a huge purse. Everyone else had a small (carry-on sized) suitcase and a small handbag. Awesome!!!

You betcha! Over on the Supernatural Underground site, the new blog for HarperCollins' paranormal romance authors (like me!), we’re doing huge (and I meanHUGE!) launch giveaways throughout the entire month of June...STARTING TODAY!!!!

Trust me, you do not want to miss these awesome prizes. So go, check it out…and let me know all cool stuff you win!